10 Exact Moments That Changed The Horror Movie Genre Forever

8. The Thing - Rob Bottin Changes The Game

The Thing Chest
Universal Pictures

Having already worked with John Carpenter on The Fog, Rob Bottin joining Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing was a game-changer for the horror world.

With Bottin at one point overseeing a crew of 35 people, he and his team produced the sort of special effects work that was revolutionary and like nothing audiences had seen up until that point.

It was actually Bottin’s idea to have the alien Thing take on the appearance of any creature that the entity assimilated. An idea with John Carpenter initially thought was ridiculous. Fortunately for the horror genre, Bottin was allowed to work his magic and delivered some of the most breath-taking practical, mechanical effects produced in the genre up until that point in time.

Even now, the SFX of The Thing stand up and never fail to send a shiver down the spine. After all, who doesn’t great freaked the f**k out at the sight on a tentacled dog creature or at seeing someone’s chest biting off their pal’s hands?!

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.